Biggles Married III Chapter 14.

By Sopwith

Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, any of the Biggles series characters used in this work. This fan fiction was written for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered part of the official storyline.

Warning: Non canon type fan fiction works may contain severe time mix-ups and character deviations.

A sudden crackle from the car radio caught Gaskin’s attention. He slid into the driver’s seat of the police car and listened intently for several minutes before waving Biggles and the others over. “We’ve got him,” was all he said as everyone tumbled into the car and slammed their respective doors.

Gaskin put the siren on as he drove the car on with dangerous speed. Other police cars fell into place behind them. “We should be more than a match for anyone,” he remarked, with mild satisfaction.

Biggles said nothing, but his fingers tapped restlessly against the door handle, and his lips set in a thin line as he stared distractedly out of the window.

It took them about ten minutes to reach their destination. Gaskin pulled up in front of a shabby gray building that had clearly seen better days. “They were last seen going in here.”

“Who’s they?” ventured Ginger.

“Algy and the man he got into the car with. What did you say his name was—Smith.”

“Oh.”

“Hang on, I’ll just have a word with my—”

Biggles ignored the order to wait, instead scrambling out of the car and rushing towards the gray building. The front door was slightly ajar.

“Here, hang on a minute!” protested Gaskin, but Biggles had already pushed the door open and was making his way inside. Gaskin uttered an oath and hurried to follow, Ginger and Bertie hard on his heels, guns at the ready.

They burst into the main room and found Jane surrounded by a handful of armed men, Smith among them.

“What’s the matter with you, you crazy woman?” Smith was shouting.

Biggles, with a snarl, leapt forward and dragged Smith away from Jane. “Don’t you dare yell at my wife!”

More policemen streamed in behind them, and dimly Biggles was aware of Gaskin barking orders, but he was more concerned with Smith and Jane.

Smith’s eyes glittered as he turned to face Biggles. “So you have—” he began, but broke off as Jane barged in between them.

“You’ve finally decided to make it, have you?” shrieked Jane, right in Biggles’ startled face. “Managed to fit me into your busy schedule?”

“Jane darling—” murmured Biggles, in mild protest.

“Don’t you ‘Jane darling’ me, James! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Jane—”

“You were too busy to show up to rescue me!” screamed Jane, her voice by now so shrill that Biggles had to refrain from wincing. “I’m your wife! You should be prepared to do anything for me! Do you have any idea what they did to me? They took my sunglasses, and my shoes, and—”

“Jane dear, please keep your voice down. We can get you more shoes and sunglasses and all the rest of it—”

“I don’t care about the sunglasses and things!” screeched Jane. “It’s not about the money! It’s the principle of the thing!”

“Jane,” said Biggles patiently, taking a step towards his wife. “I’m sorry they took your shoes and things, but I really—”

“They told you to set off a simple bomb and you couldn’t even do that, could you? I could have died!”

Biggles looked horrified. “But I would have killed dozens of the most important people in the world—”

“Who cares about them?”

“Smith wanted me to set the bomb off in the middle of an international aviation conference! I could have started another War!”

“So what?” bellowed Jane.

“What’s the matter with you?” demanded Biggles, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice. “Are you so selfish that you would want me to kill all those people for you?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t believe how selfish you are!”

“You’re so useless!” screamed Jane. “I can’t believe I married you!”

“I can’t believe I married you!” retorted Biggles, at the end of his patience.

“Don’t you shout at me! I’m the one who got kidnapped! I thought I was going to die! You have no right to be yelling at me!” Jane raised her hand and Biggles saw that she held a small pink gun in her hand.

“Jane!” He held up his hands, a split second before a bullet zipped past his ear. “Jane!” repeated Biggles, horrified. “You shot me!”

“I missed,” Jane pointed out coldly, raising the gun again. In a moment of daring, Biggles reached out and snatched the pink weapon away. Jane let out a cry of distress. “James! Give it back!”

“No,” said Biggles firmly, holding the gun behind his back.

“Biggles!” called Ginger, from the far corner of the room.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” he asked.

“It’s Algy,” said Ginger, and the emotion contained within those two words told Biggles all that he needed to know. “He’s in a bad way.”

“James!” shrieked Jane, as he turned away from her. “James! Don’t you walk away from me! James! Are you listening to me? You come back here right now! I’m not finished!”

Biggles ignored his wife as he pushed aside Gaskin and Ginger and knelt down beside the crumpled body of Algy. Biggles caught his breath as he looked down at the unnaturally still figure on the ground. There was a horrifying amount of blood on his clothes, and his face was a deathly pale.

“The ambulance should be here any minute,” promised Gaskin, but Biggles barely heard him.

“Algy!” he cried, shaking the limp body. “Algy, old man, can you hear me?”

“James!” screamed an irate voice in the background. “James, you come back this instant!”

“Shut up, Jane,” said Biggles, without looking up.

“How DARE you!” Jane pushed her way to Biggles’ side and caught hold of his shoulder. “Listen to me very carefully, James. I’m going to give you a choice. I’m going to count to three, and you’re going to stand up and talk to me, or I’m going to walk out of this door and never come back. What’s it going to be?”

Biggles shrugged her hand away. “So go,” he heard himself say, in a cold voice that didn’t sound like his own.

“Fine!”

Biggles felt his wife leave, and then he heard the front door slam, but he did not look up, for by now Algy had opened his eyes. “Algy!”

Algy looked slightly dazed as he stared up at Biggles with confused eyes. “Biggles?” he murmured. “What are you doing here?” His hand went to his chest and he said, with faint surprise, “I’ve been shot.”

“It’s all right,” said Biggles soothingly. “Everything’s going to be all right. We’ve got an ambulance on the way. You just lie still.”

A trickle of blood ran out of the side of Algy’s mouth, and he half-raised a hand in a futile attempt to wipe it away, but evidently thought better of it. His hand dropped down to his side. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Tried to rescue your wife…”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about,” said Biggles firmly. “Don’t move, there’s a good chap.”

“I remember things,” muttered Algy. “You were angry about something….I did…I took something…in the papers…”

Biggles felt a lump come into his throat. “It was a mistake. All of it. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m sorry.”

Algy smiled. “So it’s pax, then?” he whispered, his voice by now so low that Biggles had to bend closer to hear him.

Biggles forced a smile. “Of course it’s pax, you young idiot,” he said, trying to sound cheerful even though he was close to tears.

“That’s good,” murmured Algy, and then, under Biggles’ horrified gaze, he closed his eyes and his body went limp and still.

Go to Chapter 15

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